title: Expression of verocytotoxic Escherichia coli antigens in tobacco seeds and evaluation of gut immunity after oral administration in mouse model.
abstract: Verocytotoxic Escherichia (E.) coli strains are responsible for swine oedema disease, which is an enterotoxaemia that causes economic losses in the pig industry. The production of a vaccine for oral administration in transgenic seeds could be an efficient system to stimulate local immunity. This study was conducted to transform tobacco plants for the seed-specific expression of antigenic proteins from a porcine verocytotoxic E. coli strain. Parameters related to an immunological response and possible adverse effects on the oral administration of obtained tobacco seeds were evaluated in a mouse model. Tobacco was transformed via Agrobacteium tumefaciens with chimeric constructs containing structural parts of the major subunit FedA of the F18 adhesive fimbriae and VT2e B-subunit genes under control of a seed specific GLOB promoter. We showed that the foreign Vt2e-B and F18 genes were stably accumulated in storage tissue by the immunostaining method. In addition, Balb-C mice receiving transgenic tobacco seeds via the oral route showed a significant increase in IgA-positive plasma cell presence in tunica propria when compared to the control group with no observed adverse effects. Our findings encourage future studies focusing on swine for evaluation of the protective effects of transformed tobacco seeds against E. coli infection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health, Animal Science and Food Safety, Universita di Milano, 20134 Milan, Italy.luciana.rossi@unimi.it.
authors.forename: Luciana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rossi
authors.forename: Alessia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Di Giancamillo
authors.forename: Serena
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Reggi
authors.forename: Cinzia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Domeneghini
authors.forename: Antonella
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Baldi
authors.forename: Vittorio
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Sala
authors.forename: Vittorio
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Dell'Orto
authors.forename: Annelies
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Coddens
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cox
authors.forename: Corrado
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fogher
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D016960:Agrobacterium tumefaciens; D000818:Animals; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D001428:Bacterial Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004488:Edema Disease of Swine / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology; D004927:Escherichia coli Infections / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D036781:Fimbriae Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D005818:Genetic Engineering; D007422:Intestines / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D023421:Models, Animal; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D012639:Seeds / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D022641:Shiga Toxin 2 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D054323:Shiga-Toxigenic Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D013552:Swine; D014026:Nicotiana / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D001428:Bacterial Vaccines; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; C113053:FedA protein, E coli; D022641:Shiga Toxin 2; D037521:Virulence Factors; C450841:shiga toxin 2 B subunit; D036781:Fimbriae Proteins
keywords: Agrobacterium tumefaciens; Escherichia coli; edible vaccines; pig; verocytotoxins